Screw driver with a swiveled finger member



y 1959 c. H. HARRIS 2,884,972

SCREW DRIVER WITH A SWIVELED FINGER MEMBER Filed Feb. 8, 1957 r INVENTOR 1- I 1 Ca rZ/Yfla 7 72 6 BY 1 @(FM ATTORNEY United States Patent SCREW SWIVELED FINGER MEMBER Carl H. Harris, Battle Creek, Mich. Application February 8, 1957, Serial No. 638,992

1 Claim. (Cl. 145-76) The present invention relates broadly to rotatably operated instruments, and in its specific phases to improvements in tools for tightening bolts, studs, screws and the like, wherein said tool is of the general type which includes screwdrivers.

In operating a screwdriver it is necessary for the user to relax his hold on the screwdriver handle and slide his hand around the handle, to the position for taking a fresh grip, before applying the next turning force, and during this sliding motion the tool will many times shift at its point of engagement and require the user to reengage the tool with the screw or the like before continuing. At other times the end of the tool will shift sufficiently so as to slip when turning pressure is again exerted with the result that it will disengage the member being tightened or loosened and gouge or otherwise mar the adjacent surface. It was a recognition of this problem and the complete lack of any wholly satisfactory solution to same which lead to the conception and development of the present invention.

Accordingly among the objects of the present invention is the provision of means aimed to overcome the above difficulty by providing the shank of the tool with a swiveled finger engaging member through which to insert the forefinger of the hand used to turn the tool handle, whereby a forward thrust may be exerted by said forefinger upon said finger engaging member and this thrust will be transmitted to the tool shank, to hold the front end of this shank against slipping from the kerf of a screw or the like during each return of the hand for the next grip on the handle.

Another object has been to make novel provision for notifying the user if at any time he fails to exert the required forward thrust with his forefinger on the finger engaging member during return of the hand for the next grip on the tool handle, this being of particular advantage while the user is learning to properly use the improved screwdriver or the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide a highly simplified form of improved screwdriver or the like, and one which is readily manufacturable and saleable at low cost.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claim, the annexed drawing and the following description setting forth in detail certain means for carrying out the invention, such disclosed means illustrating, however, but one of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In the annexed drawing:

Figure l is a side elevation, partly broken away and in section, of a tool incorporating the present improvements.

Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view on 2 line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 3 is a similar View looking in the opposite direction at the forward end of the handle.

The shank 5, of a screwdriver or the like, projects forwardly from, and is appropriately secured to, the handle 6 in customary manner, as by means of a pin, or the formation of the handle directly on the appropriately roughened shank. The front end of the shank is shown as shaped into the form of a blade 7 but obviously could have any other formation for engaging a rotatable member, such as the head of a screw, stud, or the like.

At the front end of the handle 6, a finger engaging member or loop 8 is swivelled on the shank 5, said loop 8 projecting radially from the shank and being in a plane longitudinal to said shank. The loop 8 is thus in such position that the forefinger of the hand used to turn the handle 6, may be inserted through said loop. Thus, the forefinger may be used to exert a forward thrust on the loop 8 and shank 5 and this thrust holds the blade or the like 7 properly engaged with the screw kerf each time the hand is being returned for the next grip on the handle. During each screw-driving or screw-removing turn imparted to the handle and shank, the loop 8, of course, turns with said handle and shank but as the hand is returned for the next grip on said handle, said loop 8 rotates about said shank.

The finger engaging member 8 may be of any suitable shape but is preferably in the form of a ring having an integral sleeve 9 at its periphery. This sleeve closely but rotatably surrounds the shank 5 directly in front of the handle 6, and said shank is provided in any suitable way with a thrust shoulder abutting the front end of said sleeve. In the present disclosure a sleeve 10 is soldered or welded at 11 on the shank 5 and the rear end 12 of said sleeve 10 constitutes the thrust shoulder.

In preferred construction the front end of the handle 6 and the rear end of the sleeve 9 are provided, respectively, with coacting radial teeth 13 and 14 of any suitable angle, and preferably During proper operation of the screwdriver, with the forefinger exerting a forward thrust on the finger loop 8, the teeth 14 of the finger loop entirely clear, by a very small amount, the teeth 13 on the front end of the handle. However, when the hand is being returned for the next grip on the handle 6 and the forefinger is consequently turning the loop 8 on the shank 5, the teeth 14 will click over the teeth 13, if the user is not exerting the proper thrust on said loop 8 endwise of sleeve 9. Such clicking may be felt by the user and he is thus prompted to restore the thrust upon the loop 8. This is of particular advantage when learning to use the improved screwdriver after becoming accustomed to one of conventional form. These intermeshing teeth also help in both finishing the tightening of a screw, or loosening a tight screw, since by holding these teeth tightly in mesh with the forefinger can exert extra turning force which is not otherwise possible.

As the usual screwdriver handle is ordinarily of insulating material, for safe use in electrical work, the finger loop 8 is also preferably formed from such a material. This loop and its sleeve 9 may well be moulded in one piece from any suitable modern plastic.

Loop member 8 may be installed on shank 5 in any conventional manner, such as before handle 6 is mounted thereon, or such shank can be made in two parts with sleeve 10 forming a socket member for joining the two parts together by soldering, welding, or brazing after loop member 8 has been rotatably fitted in place.

Not only does the finger loop 8 possess the advantages above set forth, but it may be used in hanging the screwdriver on a hook for a workmans belt or elsewhere. Then, too, this loop may often prevent the screwdriver from accidentally falling into small spaces from which it could not be easily removed.

While preferences have been disclosed, it is to be understood .that variations may well. be made in this tool without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as herein set forth and claimed.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the tool and combinations herein disclosed, provided the means stated by the following claim or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

In a screw driver or the like having a handle to be gripped in the palm of the users hand, and a shank projecting forwardly from said handle, a finger engaging member having means through which to insert the forefinger of the same hand used to turn said handle, said finger engaging member projecting laterally fromsaid shank and being swivelled on said shank at its juncture with said handle and in position to receive either a pull or a forward thrust from the inserted forefinger, and thrust-transmitting means for transmitting the finger thrust from said finger engaging member to said shank, coacting teeth on the adjacent ends of" said handle and finger engaging member, said finger engaging member being movable endwise sufficiently to permit said coacting teeth to clear each other whenever forward thrust is being exerted on said finger engaging member, and said coacting teeth also be interengageable to facilitate anchoring said finger engaging member to said handle to facilitate applying greater turning power to the assembly as needed; whereby during rotary return of the hand from each succeeding palm grip on the handle, the forward thrust transmitted to the shank through said finger engaging member will disengage said cooperating teeth and hold the front end of said shank engaged with the member being driven or removed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 70,923 Voorhees Nov. 12, 1867 312,221 Pruim Feb. 10, 1885 1,526,150 Jette Feb. 10, 1925 2,210,742 Whitney Aug. 6, 1940 2,440,854 Frank May 4, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,884,972 May 5, 1959 Carl Ha Harris It is herebjr certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above "numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, line '7, for "be interengageable read being interengageiable .Signed and sealed this 8th day of September 1959.

( SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Oflicer Commissioner of Patents 

